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Connecticut Chiefs
The Connecticut Oilers is a Junior Tier III ice hockey team from Norwalk, Connecticut playing in the Eastern Hockey League (EHL). History Troy, New York The franchise was initially founded as the Capital District Selects playing out of Troy, New York. After several seasons as an independent midget team, the CD Selects joined the Eastern Junior Hockey League (EJHL) in 1998 as a part-time member, joining full-time in 1999. The team was owned and coached by former RPI coach Jim Salfi. Since the 2002–03 season, the Selects played in the Eastern Junior Hockey League's "South" Division, until the Boston Junior Shamrocks were sold and moved to Philadelphia which moved the Selects to the "North" Division. Sale and move to Norwalk, Connecticut In 2012 the team was sold and relocated to Norwalk, Connecticut and renamed the Connecticut Oilers. During the summer of 2013 there was a strong effort to re-organize Tier III junior hockey in north eastern United States resulting in the Oilers moving to the Atlantic Junior Hockey League. On June 6, 2013 the AJHL became the EHL. The Oilers would have their best season in 2014–15 and won the EHL playoffs and league championship. Winning the league championship would normally qualify the team for the 2015 USA Hockey Tier III National Championships, however due to a clerical error with a pair of the Oilers' import player's paperwork, the runner-up Northern Cyclones represented the EHL. Due to these circumstances, the EHL would later void their playoff championship and claim a "vacant" playoff champion for that season. Sale and Move to Newington The EHL franchises of the Connecticut Oilers were sold at the end of the 2017-18 playing season and the organization moved to Newington, Connecticut and the Newington Arena. Notable alumni *Dave Evans - Clarkson University (Carolina Hurricanes 1999 Draft Pick) *Ben Guite - University of Maine (Montreal Canadiens 1997Draft Pick) *Jay Leach - Providence College (NHL player) *David Leggio - Clarkson University (TPS Turku SM-liiga player) *Nick Petrecki - Boston College (San Jose Sharks 2007 1st Round Draft Pick) *Matthias Trattnig - University of Maine (Chicago Blackhawks 1998 Draft Pick) *Curtis Valentine - Bowling Green University (Vancouver Canucks 1998 Draft Pick) *Shawn Weller - Clarkson University (Ottawa Senators 2004 Draft Pick) *Brian Robbins - UMass - Lowell Season-by-season results *-The team vacated the 2015 league playoff championship as a result of the use of ineligible players due to an apparent filing error USA Hockey Tier III Jr NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS DIVISION 1 - (NA3HL) x2 teams - (EHL) - (MnJHL) Round robin play in pool with top 2 teams advancing to final. Although the Oilers won the 2015 EHL Champion, the Northern Cyclones advanced to the USA Championships as the Oilers were stripped of the championship for the use of two ineligible import players from Sweden. The players were ruled ineligible due to a paperwork issue with USA Hockey. The issue was discovered by the league when they were preparing paperwork for the 2015 USA Hockey Tier III Junior National Championship for both teams during the final series. The two players in question were not allowed to play in the fifth and deciding game of the series but the issue was not able to be resolved by the start of the tournament and the Northern Cyclones were sent as the league representative. As of July 21, 2015 the league lists the 2015 playoff champions as "Vacant". External links * Connecticut Oilers Website * Eastern Hockey league (EHL) Website Category:Established in 1996 Category:Eastern Hockey League teams